Unexplained encounters in Japan
16 famous cases and 1 story shared by people from Japan: 2 sky, 5 visitors, 5 creatures, 3 voices & sounds, 2 places. Famous cases set out what was reported and the explanations offered, without taking a side.
By state or region
Famous cases
Utsuro-bune, the Hollow ShipLegendPacific coast of Hitachi Province (Ibaraki), Japan · 1803The Yonaguni MonumentDisputedOff Yonaguni Island, Okinawa, Japan · Found in 1986The Giant SquidConfirmedOff the Ogasawara Islands, Japan · First photographed alive in 2004The Kofu EncounterDisputedKofu, Yamanashi, Japan · 23 February 1975The Nightingale Floors of Nijō CastleExplainedNijō Castle, Kyoto, Japan · Built in the early 1600sThe KappaLegendTōno, Iwate, Japan · Told for centuriesThe TsuchinokoUnconfirmedHigashishirakawa, Gifu, Japan · Reports for centuries; bounties since the 1980sThe KodamaLegendYakushima and the forests of Japan · Told for centuriesThe Tengu of Mount KuramaLegendMount Kurama, north of Kyoto, Japan · Told for centuriesThe Shiranui LightsMostly explainedYatsushiro Sea, Kumamoto, Japan · Recorded for over a thousand yearsThe Kijimuna of OkinawaLegendOkinawa Island, Japan · Told for generationsThe HibagonUnconfirmedMount Hiba, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan · Sightings 1970 – 1974The Hum of the EarthMostly explainedJapan, where it was first detected · Discovered in 1998The KitsuneLegendFushimi Inari, Kyoto, Japan · Told for over a thousand yearsThe Fox Fires of ŌjiMostly explainedŌji Inari Shrine, Tokyo, Japan · Told for centuriesIshi-no-Hōden, the Floating StonePurpose unknownŌshiko Shrine, Takasago, Hyōgo, Japan · Carved by the 7th century